Deciding points won in heavyweight

Published: Sunday, February 10, 2013 at 10:15 AM.

“I was doing, we call it a Dixon, where you gotta under hook,” Schoonover said. “I saw his back, right leg was up and I did the under hook. I saw his back inch by inch go slowly down.”

But while Schoonover won, the day still belong to Southwest, the CPC tournament champion and the league’s top playoff seed.

“It’s big for us simply because, looking at the bracket, the No. 1 seed gets a wildcard in the first round, it looks like,” Dempsey said, “Whereas the No. 2 looks like it may have to travel and will be in a tougher bracket. We won’t be in an easier bracket, but it’s a better chance to at least advance.”

BEAUFORT — It was up to the big boys to decide the top playoff seed from the Coastal Plains 1-A Conference, and Southwest’s heavyweight Grant Raynor didn’t disappoint.

Raynor pinned Dixon’s Lex Padgett in 2:33 in the heavyweight final of the CPC tournament, giving the Stallions the league’s No. 1 playoff seed for next week’s NCHSAA 1-A dual-team playoffs.

The pairings will be released Monday.

“I was pretty nervous, but I just went out there,” Raynor said. “It (playoff seed) was on my mind because they (teammates) kept bugging me about it.”

Now the rest of the Southwest grapplers can congratulate Raynor, a junior, for his victory that gave the Stallions their second straight CPC tournament title. Southwest finished with 183 points to Dixon’s 174.

Southwest (12-19) and Dixon (21-5) shared the conference title this season after the Stallions defeated the Bulldogs 34-30 on Jan. 18, only to see Dixon defeat Southwest 33-30 on Feb. 2.

The top dual-team playoff seed between the two squads then came down to the team that finished higher in the conference tournament held at East Carteret High.

“It’s a great accomplishment to overcome Dixon because Dixon is a great team and it’s a big rivalry between us. Always has been and always will be,” said Southwest’s Nick Cameron, who won the 120-pound title. “I feel like this win right here is really going to motivate us going into the playoffs.

“We actually came in here thinking about it as individuals, but also thinking about it as a team. Last weekend, when we lost to Dixon in the conference duals, it really gave us motivation to work hard. We came in with a team mentality… and we all came together and did our part.”

Dixon had 11 wrestlers in the finals and Southwest nine. Yet the difference was the Stallions claiming individual titles in eight weight classes, compared to three for the Bulldogs. Southwest also had three third-place finishes, compared to Dixon’s two.

The Bulldogs led 148-143 at the start of the finals and consolation finals.

“Obviously going into heavyweight, that was the clincher. We win that that one, we win the whole thing, and we lose that, we come in second,” Dixon coach Dal Tomlinson said. “But you go through the matches and probably four matches in there (were a difference).

“Obviously I think Southwest has been working on ways to counter some of the things we do. They did a great job. It’s just the way it rolled.”

As it turned out, things rolled in the Stallions’ favor, thanks to Raynor, who said he wrestled Padgett three previous times this season.

“The first time he beat me by points, the second time he pinned me and the third time I beat him by points,” Raynor said. “I did what my coaches taught me last week, how to defend against head and arm and how to block when I’m on the bottom.”

Dempsey was proud of Raynor for following the game plan.

“Some of the things he did in the match, we specifically went over and worked on,” Dempsey said. “Walking through with him and showing him some of the moves and some things we’ve seen last time that he didn’t do and some things the kid tries to do last time that almost got him.

“He did a great job of defending it as well as getting into position. It was almost textbook of what we did in practice.”

Still, Raynor’s win wasn’t the only key victory for Southwest. Cameron’s 1-0 win over Dixon’s Tyler Bradley at 120 was also big.

“Bradley, he’s a tough kid and I had never wrestled him before,” Cameron said. “On his feet he’s real good, but I felt like I had the upper hand on the defensive part. The fact that I was able to hold him down and he wasn’t able to hold me down really did me justice.”

“We stressed the importance to our guys about pinning when we could and getting major decisions worth one bonus point,” Dempsey said. “We knew how tight it was going to be between us and Dixon. All those points added up.”

Schoonover rallied for a pin with 37 seconds left in the match after he faced a 5-0 deficit in the third period. He trailed 5-2 when he recorded the pin.

“I’ll be honest with you, I was a little worried in the first period,” Tomlinson said. “But Seth is in really good shape as far as his conditioning and so I didn’t think the third period would be a problem. I have been telling him all week that’s what’s going to win matches in the regionals.”

Schoonover said he wasn’t worried, despite being down against East Carteret’s Matthew Chilton.

“I’ve had a lot of matches like that and I’ve pulled out a lot of wins that way. I’ve been down 8-0, 9-0 and I’ve pulled out a win,” Schoonover said. “He got me in a move at the beginning and it took some life out of me because that’s a move I run. It was a head and arm and he got it on me.

“But I knew once I got in the third period that I was in good shape and I knew it (a rally) was going to happen. I just had to let it develop.”

And then Schoonover made his move.

“I was doing, we call it a Dixon, where you gotta under hook,” Schoonover said. “I saw his back, right leg was up and I did the under hook. I saw his back inch by inch go slowly down.”

But while Schoonover won, the day still belong to Southwest, the CPC tournament champion and the league’s top playoff seed.

“It’s big for us simply because, looking at the bracket, the No. 1 seed gets a wildcard in the first round, it looks like,” Dempsey said, “Whereas the No. 2 looks like it may have to travel and will be in a tougher bracket. We won’t be in an easier bracket, but it’s a better chance to at least advance.”